fennel

There are some vegetables that just shout farmers market or CSA to me. Mustard Greens. Garlic Scapes. Kohlrabi. Fennel.

I know, I know – fennel isn’t JUST from farmers markets and CSAs, but that’s literally the only time I ever end up getting it, meaning I hardly ever know what to do with it. Last year, I ended up keeping the fennel raw and preparing a Tomato, Fennel and Avocado Salad. It was good, but B didn’t like it that much – he didn’t like the texture of the fennel raw so I ended up eating most of his salad. (#winning!)

This year, week 9 of our Fresh Fork farm share came and once again we were faced with another bulb of fennel. I was determined to prepare it differently, in a way even B would enjoy. Enter, roasted fennel and carrots. Oh. Em. Gee. I may be overreacting, or just a little too excited, but I am super in love with preparing fennel this way. Even B tried it and liked it! The fennel softens and the strong anise-type flavor softens somewhat. I can’t wait to make this again!

Roasted Fennel & Carrots - i crashed the web

Roasted Fennel & Carrots

Here’s what you need:

One fennel bulb (without the stalks, but save the fronds), chopped into 1/2 inch slices
four large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 425.
Toss sliced fennel and carrots with olive oil.
Place fennel and carrots in a small casserole dish. Toss with fennel seeds and add minced garlic, salt and pepper. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until carrots and fennel are tender.
For added fennel taste, save the fronds and sprinkle 1-2 tsp. of the leaves on top.
Enjoy! Makes 2 side dishes or one large vegetarian main dish. For a vegetarian main dish, serve with a protein-rich grain like freekeh or quinoa, and/or a side of beans like lentils. Yum!

Roasted Fennel and Carrots - i crashed the web

fresh out of the oven!

Some questions for you:

What food or ingredient do you think of when you think of CSAs or farmers markets?
Do you enjoy fennel? How do you eat it – raw or cooked?
Do you eat your friend/significant other/child/roommate’s food if they don’t like it? I’m not judging!

How are we already EIGHT weeks into our Fresh Fork summer share? It may seem weird to say this – and somewhat cheesy – but I feel like it’s become a part of B and me. We look forward to picking up our weekly share, trying the new recipes and enjoying all the glorious fresh produce and some other local grub (those local corn chips … and local oats … and more – were SO good!).

Anyway, enough blabbering with how much I am loving my Fresh Fork. Here’s what we got this week:

1 lb grassfed ground beef
1 bulb fennel
3# red skin potatoes
1 candy onion
1 head red cabbage
1 lb yellow beans
1 cucumber
1 dozen eggs
1 pint sweet cherries
1 quart apricots

And a blurry photo of what we got (I may have been at Parnell’s for happy hour before the pick up):

fresh fork week 8

We’ve finished pretty much everything, minus the beef, which is in our freezer until B figures out what he wants to do with it. Because I don’t really like ground beef unless it’s in a meatball. Even then I prefer turkey. It happens.

Some of our meals:

B made this dish, featuring the cabbage (doesn’t it look professional?!)

pork and cabbage

We had a wine and cheese night – and the apricots went deliciously with it!

wine and cheese

A summery meal featuring potato salad from the potatoes (and the corn, tomato and eggplant are from week 9 – shhhh yes I’m skipping ahead)

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And my favorite (well, not my favorite – the pork and cabbage was probably the best, but don’t tell B) – fennel, tomato and avocado salad – which we enjoyed with the beer can chicken.

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You can make the fennel salad too – it was really easy so here’s another non-recipe for you to enjoy for the next time you get fennel. There was something just so delicious about the sweetness of the fennel with the bitterness of the balsamic. And who doesn’t like tomato and avocado?

fennel tomato and avocado salad {i crashed the web}

Fennel, Tomato & Avocado salad

Here’s what you need:

1 bulb fennel
2 fresh tomatoes
1 ripe avocado
Your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. Don’t have one? Make your own! Here’s my favorite recipe – it makes more than enough for this salad plus more:
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or minced

Here’s what you do:

Cut up the first three ingredients. Chop up the fennel bulb into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut up tomato into thin slices. Find a ripe avocado and cut it into bite sized pieces.
Arrange tomato, avocado, and fennel on a plate.
Drizzle about 1-2 tbs of your favorite balsamic dressing over the salad. If you’re making mine, combine vinegar, oil, mustard and garlic in a jar and shake well to combine before drizzling a little over the salads. You’ll have leftover dressing for later.
Enjoy!